After its debut in 2015 in Las Vegas, the autonomous commercial vehicle has been making waves in the trucking industry. Some skeptical, some awed, some practical and some cautiously optimistic. Trucking journalist Jack Roberts and autonomous and safety systems expert CEO and President of PrePass Mark Doughty discussed in a FleetOwner <\/i>webinar the future of autonomous trucks, how soon they will be on the road and the questions the public still has about its implications to the job force.<\/p>\n
\u201cComputers like predictability,\u201d said Roberts when explaining the autonomous truck. \u201cHumans equal chaos, always changing, always doing the unexpected. Merging those two has proven to be a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the webinar, the duo quoted John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, who explained that autonomous trucks are \u201ca bigger challenge than launching a rocket and putting it in orbit around the Earth\u2026because it has to be done safely over and over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legislation lag<\/h3>\n
According to Roberts, there has been a legislative lag with the advancements in autonomous technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe industry is waiting on technology such as vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication where vehicles can communicate with each other through WiFi or cellular data,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
This could lead to a “VHS or Betamax” type of choice, where those who pick the losing technology are left in the dust, Doughty explained.<\/p>\n
The same concept applies to autonomous trucks. What technology should companies be investing in? What path should they take to create the safest vehicle?<\/p>\n
\u201cVehicle to infrastructure (V2I) and smart infrastructure,\u201d answered Roberts. \u201cVehicles would be able to communicate with the traffic lights on the roads to monitor the flow of traffic \u2013 keeping green lights on longer to move traffic along, for example \u2013 as well as other elements of the infrastructure, such as the crosswalks to know when pedestrians and bikers are crossing the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
What about the driver?<\/h3>\n
\u201cThere are certain vehicles that are going to have to require a driver being present, such as hazmat vehicles, construction, etc., but autonomous could actually help ease the driver shortage \u2013 not increase it,\u201d Roberts claimed.<\/p>\n
While an autonomous truck might drive on its own, there are still many tasks that need to be performed and monitored by an experienced driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will always have to be human involvement,\u201d said Doughty. \u201cIs there an enhanced pre-trip inspection with a CVSA or FMCSA certified inspector? Going back to the V2I communications, those data streams need to be identified by humans. For example, say there is a hard stop on the road. The autonomous vehicle brakes safely, but cargo shifts in the trailer or an axle pops of a hinge. A driver needs to be there to adjust and ensure safe travel for the rest of the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having this driver on board can also reassure that the vehicle is compliant in all safety and regulatory aspects, Roberts added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe driver will be the one to perform the pre- and post-trip inspections,\u201d said Roberts. \u201cDuring roadside inspections, the driver will be there to help pull over the vehicle and be there to communicate to the fleet manager if there is something wrong with the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doughty posed the question that if there\u2019s not a human in the vehicle, is there more reassurance that the vehicle is compliant?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat data transmission should be sent along that truck\u2019s journey that it is compliant?\u201d Doughty asked. \u201cTechnology companies need to know these answers, so they don\u2019t fall behind in the VHS\/Betamax scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fleets will have to adjust their internal operations, explained Roberts. \u201cThere will absolutely have to be a NASA-like operations center with new occupation opportunities that could be created to monitor these vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fueling is going to be a problem, especially if a driver isn\u2019t on board, Roberts said. However, this could bring back full-service attendants to check tire pressure, fuel \u2013 very basic high-level maintenance checks.<\/p>\n
\u201cElectric is more problematic with larger recharge times with charging hubs or battery packs as possible solutions,\u201d Roberts added. \u201cIt\u2019s highly unlikely that these vehicles will operate without any human interaction \u2013 at least in our lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the limited capacity of the grid, Doughty urged fleets that are contemplating electric to keep thinking of solutions for its operations.<\/p>\n
Safety<\/h3>\n
Doughty brought up an important point \u2013 how to monitor if an autonomous vehicle is participating in illegal activity, such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are doing nefarious and illegal activity without autonomous trucks,\u201d explained Roberts. \u201cYou can believe that there are people out there who are going to take advantage of the autonomous technology to continue doing those illegal activities. Having someone in charge of monitoring that needs to be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n
With cybersecurity on the rise as more and more technologies are being developed, trucking needs to invest in proper protection against hackers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s of paramount importance that solutions continue to be researched,\u201d said Doughty. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen bad actions from people with non-autonomous vehicles. Imagine the damage that could be done in an autonomous vehicle with the amounts of vitally important cargoes out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who is going be responsible if an accident occurs?<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually fleet or driver is responsible for an accident, but with autonomous technology, is it the software developer? The fleet? The technology? The back-up driver inside the vehicle?\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThe insurance and legal aspects are important to determine when getting autonomous trucks on the road. We\u2019re not getting an autonomous truck this year or next year, so those answers are being figured out by the best minds in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology providers Kodiak Robotics and Waymo have been hauling freight with self-driving Class 8 trucks in the Southwest corridor of the U.S. over the last few years. During a March 17 MOVE America virtual panel on truck technology and innovation<\/a>, Charlie Jatt, head of commercialization for trucking at Waymo, and Don Burnette, co-founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics, addressed liability concerns of autonomous trucks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way we view it is we are the driver and we stand behind the driving we are doing,\u201d Jatt explained. \u201cWe are taking responsibility for the driving we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Burnette also agreed that in the event of an incident, Kodiak would stand behind its product.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, we are providing the driving service, we are providing the technology, and we\u2019re only going to launch this technology once we believe it is absolutely safe,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, the buck stops with the technology provider.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2017, a major fire and subsequent bridge collapse<\/a> along Interstate 85 outside Atlanta caused a state of emergency for the surrounding area. At that time, it took Google Maps four hours to register the accident. Technology has since advanced, taking in local reports and updating in real time. But what is being done to transition those advancements to autonomous GPS technology?<\/p>\n \u201cNot enough,\u201d said Doughty. \u201cFor those of you following politics, the infrastructure bill is being brought to Congress. It\u2019s no mystery we don\u2019t have enough money to maintain roads, let alone enough for traffic management systems. At PrePass, we are working with third-party vendors on our own alerts, but right now, it\u2019s about pulling things in and aggregating that information into one place.\u201d<\/p>\n Roberts explained the inflection point for autonomous truck is on the way. “We\u2019re already seeing certain applications today,” he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA good starting point for autonomous in trucking would be for freight distribution, port transportation, even something like Volvo\u2019s all-electric, self-driving tractor system, Vera<\/a>, that was revealed in 2018,\u201d said Roberts.<\/p>\n Roberts worked with North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) years ago on a study where two trucks platooning could be the first \u201cin the wild\u201d moment for autonomous trucks with drivers on board.<\/p>\n \u201cSince then, platooning has gone on the back burner,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAutonomous has moved so fast in the last five years that it\u2019s overtaken platooning. It could just end up being a subset of the industry. They\u2019re both going to communicate with each other and a default operating mode when the conditions are right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEndgame? Autonomous local and over-the-road transport \u2013 but not for another 10 years,\u201d said Doughty. \u201cThe biggest hindrance to the advancement of autonomous is the proper guidance with the safety spectrum (VHS versus Betamax). That\u2019s really going to determine what technologies can be developed and how soon autonomous can be a part of our daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n This technology is coming, sooner rather than later, Roberts stated.<\/p>\n \u201cAutonomous is going to happen, whether it\u2019s your company or your competitor,\u201d he said. \u201cNow is the time to start thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n By Catharine Conway<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n How soon will autonomous trucks be on the road? Will they eliminate the driver? Who takes the fall if an accident occurs? These questions and more are answered by trucking experts on the future of self-driving technology. After its debut in 2015 in Las Vegas, the autonomous commercial vehicle has been making waves in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10673"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10675,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10673\/revisions\/10675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Autonomous in the wild<\/h3>\n
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What\u2019s the autonomous endgame?<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\nFLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"